Sending paper on "species and Genera" from Nineteenth Century. Will stay at Meldola's before travelling to B. Ass. meeting at York.
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The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823 - 1913) was one of the world's most important scientists. His seminal contributions to biology rival those of his friend and colleague Charles Darwin, though he is far less well known. Together Wallace and Darwin proposed the theory of evolution by natural selection in 1858, and their prolific subsequent work laid the foundations of modern evolutionary biology, and much more besides.
Wallace made enduring scholarly contributions to subjects as diverse as glaciology, land reform, anthropology, ethnography, epidemiology, and astrobiology. His pioneering work on evolutionary biogeography (the science that seeks to explain the geographical distribution of organisms) led to him becoming recognised as that subject’s ‘father’. Beyond this Wallace is regarded as the pre-eminent collector and field biologist of tropical regions of the 19th century, and his book The Malay Archipelago (which was Joseph Conrad’s favourite bedside reading) is one of the most celebrated travel writings of that century and has never been out of print. Wallace was a man with an extraordinary breadth of interests who was actively engaged with many of the big questions and important issues of his day. He was anti-slavery, anti-eugenics, anti-vivisection, anti-militarism, anti-Imperialism, a conservationist and an advocate of woman's rights. He strongly believed in the rights of the ordinary person, was a socialist, an anti-vaccinationist (for rational reasons), and a believer in naturalistic, evolutionary spiritualism. He did not come from a privileged background and was largely self-taught. For a brief biography see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/mini-biography
The Wallace Correspondence Project (WCP) was founded by George Beccaloni in 2010. Its aims are to locate, digitise, catalogue, transcribe, interpret and publish Wallace's surviving correspondence and other manuscripts. About 5,700 letters to and from Wallace are currently known to survive, and they are held by c. 240 institutions and individuals worldwide. Wallace's letters are a biographical treasure trove, which provides a far better picture of the 'real' Wallace than his heavily edited and censored published writings (e.g. his autobiography My Life (1905) and his letters in Marchant's Letters and Reminiscences (1916)). For example, Wallace never even mentions his wife's name (Annie) in any of his published writings, including his autobiography. The letters are also key to gaining a deeper understanding of his scientific and other work: how and why his ideas arose, and how they evolved over time.
The WCP is unlocking this valuable resource by gathering all the letters together for the first time, and transcribing them so that they can be more easily read and information within them discovered using electronic searches for words and phrases. The vast amount of unpublished information which is coming to light will surely form the basis for numerous articles, scholarly papers, PhD theses and perhaps the first definitive biography.
Epsilon is being used by the WCP's as its online archive of Wallace's correspondence. It replaces our previous archive, Wallace Letters Online, which was last updated in 2015. The process of editing the transcripts and associated metadata is a work in progress which will take many years to complete. Our project’s policy is, however, to make the information we have available to users at the earliest possible opportunity, even if it is incomplete and/or imperfect. For a guide to our data, including the protocols we use for metadata and transcriptions, please see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
Sending paper on "species and Genera" from Nineteenth Century. Will stay at Meldola's before travelling to B. Ass. meeting at York.
Will not stay with Meldola, but invites him to Godalming for the weekend instead. Wants his advice about gas stoves.
Is coming to town for a meeting of the Land Nationalisation Society. Could he have a bed on Tuesday night?.
Have let their house for a month from 8th August. Will go to the New Forest for a week or two weeks, and then to Swanage, Dorset. "I want to give Willie a treat in fossils." Has received an invitation from Lord Mount Temple, of Broadlands. "I much prefer the quiet of Swanage and shall decline of course." Does Meldola know of anyone the ARW's could lodge with in the New Forest? Invites him to stay.
Comments on Meldola's article in the Annals. It has disposed of Mr. Distant's hazy objections. Can he stay on Friday night, when he comes up for a meeting of the L and Nationalisation Society?.
Invites Meldola over.
Enclosing tickets for the 4th and 11th March. Meldola's deputation was wasted on Sir John Lubbock -why not go direct to the Home Secretary? Should appeal to government to veto Epping Forest Bill -and more on this.
Will meet on Friday afternoon. About Sir Wilfred Lawson's speech.
Arrangements for visit from Meldola and his mother. Can go to the New Forest, if easier for Meldola, as has half promised Willie that he would take him.
Thanks for the pupae. Arrangements for visit from Meldola's mother.
Will Meldola accompany ARW to a soiree, where he will read a paper.
Inviting Meldola to stay. Wants to catch moths. Mentions a friend of Willie's -John Benson.
Will be glad to see Meldola on May 2nd, but Willie will be away then.
About Meldola's letter in Nature last week. Inviting Meldola to stay. Willie on holiday from school-but will spend most of the time at Hurstpierpoint.
Sending Meldola tickets for the Zoological. Possibility of holiday in Ilfracombe, if they can let their house.
Uncertainty about their movements this autumn. If they cannot let the house, may take Willie away for a week or two. Meldola welcome to join them.
Inviting Meldola to visit to discuss an excursion.
Sending tickets for Zoological. Has had a pleasant week at Hurstpierpoint. Two Convolvulus Hawks caught. Willie has been sent a D. celeris. Shall be able to attend the fungus meeting of Meldola's club this year.
Asking about weight of volcanic dust particles and distance these are carried. Also wants samples of ash e.g. from Krakatoa. Needs evidence for question of dispersal of seeds by wind currents. Has agreed to give 8 lectures in Boston.
Will meet Violet on Saturday and take her to South Kensington museum. Will then meet Judd. Arrangements for journey home.